Machines



' (No Model.)

G. H. WILLCOX.

TRIMMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES. No. 374,440.. Patented Dec. 6, 1887..

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UNITED STATES PATENT 7 OFFICE.

CHARLES H. WILLCOX, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE \VILLCOX & GIBBS SEWING MACHINE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

TRIMMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No 374,440, dated December 6, 1887.

Application filed May 26, 1882. Serial No.62,5l8. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES H. WILLooX, of New York city, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Trimming Attachments for knit goods simultaneously with the sewing of said welts or hems, but is applicable in whole or in part to other purposes.

In other applications for patent made by me, and numbered,respectivel y, 62,516, 62,517, 63, 046, and 63,047, I have shown for performing this work trimming attachments having vibratory or rotary cutters to act upon the fabric.

The present invention consists in a modification wherein a stationary cutter is adapted to perform the work. To this end the cutter is arranged at the end of a bar or plate so as to project at right angles therefrom, and the said plate is attached to the cloth or work plate of the machine, or to the presser-foot, the cutter in the former case projecting downward through a slot in the cloth or work plate and in the latter upward through a slot in the presser-foot. The cutter is inserted between the superposed layers and acts upon the bottom or top layer, according as it projects down or up, the other layers passing uncut over the supporting bar or plate.

In another form the stationary cutter, attached either to the cloth plate or to the presser-foot, projects into a slot in the end of a separator-plate, which is inserted between the superposed layers, as described in my application filed of even date herewith and numbered 62,517,

In the accompanying drawings three varieties of the first form are represented.

Figures 1, 2, 8 are respectively end view, partlyin vertical cross-section, plan, and front view, partly in vertical longitudinal section, illustrating the construction and application of a trimming attachment with the cutter projecting downward through a slot in the clothplate; Fig. 4:, a plan showing an arrangement wherein the cutter extends through a slot in the feedsurfacc; and Figs. 5, 6, and 7, views similar to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, showing the cutter projecting upward through a slot in the presser-foot, of which Fig. 8 is a plan.

The cutter X, having a retreating knife edge inclined to the horizontal, is attached to the bar or plate Y,which is preferably flexible, so

the fabric against it under the action of the 65 feed. The roughened feed-surface 6, attached to the feed-bar H, takes firm hold of the fabric in front and rear and on both sides of the cutter and advances it against the sharp edge of the cutter X without chance to pucker. In 7 front of the cutter is a share, M, or curved projection for smoothing or taking the curl out of the edges of knit goods, so that the same will be fed to the cutter in a fiat condition. .The presser-foot is recessed on the bot- 7 tom above the cutter X. (See Figs. 1 and 3.) In order to sew and trim a plain welt or hem, the fabric, being folded once upon itself, is introduced between the presser-foot and cloth-plate, with the folded overlayer down 8 or up, according to the position of the cutter X, the body of the fabric being under or over the plate or bar Y, as the case may be, and the curled edge is flattened out, so that it will hug the edge of the'share or uncurling device 8 a M. The machine being started, the folded fabric is stitched by the sewing-machine, and simultaneously with the stitching the margin is trimmed, the curl being taken out continuously in advance of the cutter.

As shown, the cutter is arranged on the opposite side of the needle from the goose-neck of the sewing-machine, and this is advantageous for making welts or hems, as the main body of the fabric then lies outside of the 9 goose-neck and is free to be manipulated, as desired. It is obvious, however, that the cutter could be arranged on the same side of the needle as the goose-neck.

As already stated, and as shown in the draw- 1 ings, the cutter is so constructed and arranged that it can rise and fall with the feed, which is accomplished either by attaching the cutter to a bar which is flexible or yielding or by attaching it to the presser-foot. Therefore it will be understood that the cutter is described herein as stationary, in the sense that it is not connected with or operated by the driving mechanism, as is the case with the cutters described in my applications above referred to.

Having now fully described my said invention and the manner of carrying the same into effect, what I claim is 1. In a trimming attachment for sewing-machines, a stationary cutter or cutting-l nife, combined with a bar or plate adapted to enter between superposed layers, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a stationary cutter, ofa feed-bar having a feed-surface arranged so as to take hold of the fabric both before and behind the cutter and a bar or plate adapted to enter between superposed layers, substantially as described.

3. The combinatiomwith 'a sewing-machine, of the stationary cutter or cutting-knife arranged on the side of the needle opposite from the gooseneck and a bar or plate adapted to enter between superposed layers of fabric, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the stationary cutter, the bar or plate adapted to enter between superposed layers of fabric, and the share or nncurling device, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the recessed presserfoot, the stationary cutter, and the bar or plate adapted to enter between superposed layers of 3 5 7. The combination of the recessed presser foot, the horizontal bar or plate rigidly att-ached to its support and adapted to enter between the superposed layers of fabric, the cutter carried by the free end of 'said bar or plate and projecting into a slot, and the feedbar with divided feedsurface, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' CHAS. H. XVILLCOX. \Vitnesses:

E. A. RACE, S. A. Swarm. 

